The President of Tanzania, Hon. Dr. John Magufuli, has appointed on March 25, 2017 Mr. Charles Edward Kichere Commissioner General of the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA).
Prior to the appointment Mr. Kichere was Deputy Commissioner General of the TRA.
He replaces Mr. Alphayo Kidata who has been appointed Permanent Secretary (PS) at the President’s Office.
The position of Deputy Commissioner General of the TRA will be filled later.
The TRA is a semi-autonomous body that operates in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance and Planning of Tanzania.
Since the beginning of his mandate, President Magufuli made high-profile changes at the authority twice.
In November 2015, he suspended TRA’s Commissioner General Rished Bade alongside five other top TRA officials, including his deputy Lusekelo Mwaseba, as the state ordered investigations into TZS 80 billion in tax revenue that could not be accounted for by the authority.
In November 2016 the President fired the chairman of TRA Mr. Bernard Mchomvu and dissolved the board, but no official reason for the sacking was specified.
In January 2017, TRA announced that the total revenue collection reached TZS 1.15 trillion in the same month, against TZS 1.41 in December 2016.
